TO SUSAN ON THE WEST COAST WAITING (FROM RANDY IN VIETNAM FIGHTING) – DONOVANMar 18 '03 Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line The artist known as “Donovan” was born “Donovan Phillip Leitch” on 10 May 1946 in Glasgow, Scotland Donovan was raised outside of London, England and at the age of 8 recorded his first demo tape. In 1965 he performed regularly on the Television show in the UK called “Ready, Steady, Go!”. He signed a music contract with “Hickory” records and released his first song “Catch The Wind” that peaked at #23 in the US on 05/15/65 and #5 in the UK in June. His next release was “Colours” that peaked at #61 in the US on 08/14/65 and #4 in the UK in July. His 3rd single was “Universal Soldier” that peaked at #53 in the US on 09/25/65 but wasn’t released in the UK. The song was written by “Buffy Sainte- Marie” who had 3 singles of her own in the Top 100. Her highest peaking song was “Mister Can’t You See” that peaked at #38 on 04/01/72. Donovan next appeared at the “Newport Folk Festival” in America in 1965. In 1966 he signed a new contract with “Epic” records and released “Sunshine Superman” that went to #1 in the US on 07/30/66 and peaked at #2 in the UK. “Jimmy Page” who would later from the group “Led Zeppelin” with “Robert Plant” provided the back up guitar. Just a few months later he released “Mellow Yellow” that peaked at #2 in the US on 11/12/66 and stayed at #2 for 2 weeks and #8 in the UK. Backing vocals (or whispers) for this song were done by “Paul McCartney” 1967 saw the release of “Epistle To Dippy” that peaked at #19 on 02/11/67 in the US but wasn’t released in the UK. “There Is A Mountain” peaked at #11 on 08/12/67 in the US and #8 in the UK the same month. His next single was “Wear Your Love Like Heaven” that peaked at #23 in the US on 11/25/67 but wasn’t released in the UK. He also traveled to India in 1967 with the “Beatles” to study with the “Maharishi Mahesh Yogi” who in turn inspired him to renounce drugs and turn to meditation. In 1968 he released “Jennifer Juniper” that peaked at #26 on 03/09/68 in the US and #5 in the UK. “Hurdy Gurdy Man” was released next and peaked at #5 in the US on 06/22/68 and #4 in the UK the same month. His next single release was “Lalena” that went to #33 in the US on 10/05/68 but was not released in the UK. 1969 saw the release of “To Susan On The West Coast Waiting” backed by “Atlantis” and once again was not released in the UK. “To Susan On The West Coast Waiting” peaked in the US at #35 on 02/08/69. “Atlantis” the “B” side of this single received more airplay than the “A” side and it peaked at #7 on 04/05/69 it also had the “Jeff Beck Group” on backup vocals. Next came the single “Goo Goo Barabjagal (Love Is Hot)” that peaked at #36 in the US on 08/02/69. In the UK the version of this song was titled “Barabjagal” and had back up vocals with the “Jeff Beck Group” that peaked at #12. Donovan’s next single release was in 1970 was titled “Riki Tiki Tavi” that peaked at #55 in the US and didn’t chart at all in the UK. The song was taken from the Title of Chapter 9 of Rudyard Kiplings’s 1894 classic “The Jungle Book”. In October 1970 he married “Linda Lawrence” in Windser, England. In January 1971 “Celia Of The Seals” was released and peaked at #84 in the US on 02/27/71 and didn’t chart at all in the UK. In 1972 Donovan starred in and wrote the score for the Movie “The Pied Piper”. In April 1973 he released “I Like You” that peaked at #66 on the US charts on 04/28/73 and didn’t chart in the UK. This would be his final Top 100 charting single. For the next few years Donovan continued to release at least 2 singles a year but none reached the Top 100. He went into a semi-retirement up until 1991 when the group “Happy Mondays” released a song in his honor and he toured with the group for a while. In 1996 he released an album of new material titled “Sutras” but it didn’t have any impact on the music charts. Donovan is currently working on his autobiography that may be released by the end of 2003. I am giving my opinion on my favorite CD by Donovan today which is titled ”TROUBADOUR THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION/1964 – 1976” which is a 2 CD set. It was originally released in 1992 as a box set on the “Epic” records label as a “Limited Collectors Edition” with a small 12 page booklet of photographs of his life. The songs on this CD set are listed below in the order as they appear followed by their peak position on the Top 100 Chart if they reached it, then by my rating of each song and my overall rating of this CD: CD #1 1. LONDON TOWN – 3 2. CODINE – 3 3. CATCH THE WIND (Peaked at #23 on 05/15/65) – 4 4. UNIVERSAL SOLDIER (Peaked at #53 on 09/25/65) – 4 5. COLOURS (Peaked at #61 on 98/14/65) – 5 6. SUNSHINE SUPERMAN (Peaked at #1 for 1 week on 07/30/66) – 5 7. SEASON OF THE WITCH – 5 8. THE TRIP (Flip side of “Sunshine Superman” but did not chart separately) – 4 9. GUINEVERE – 3 10. BREEZES OF PATCHULIE – 3 11. MUSEUM – 3 12. SUPER LUNGS – 3 13. MELLOW YELLOW (Peaked at #2 for 3 weeks on 11/12/66) – 5 14. WRITER IN THE SUN – 3 15. SAND AND FOAM (Flip side of “There Is A Mountain” but did not chart seperatly) – 3 16. SUNNY SOUTH KENSINGTON (Flip side of “Mellow Yellow” but did not chart seperatly) – 4 17. EPISTLE TO DIPPY (Peaked at #19 on 02/11/67) – 5 18. THERE IS A MOUNTAIN (Peaked at #11 on 08/12/67) – 5 19. WEAR YOUR LOVE LIKE HEAVEN (Peaked at #23 on 11/25/67) – 5 20. OH GOSH – 3 21. THE TINKER AND THE CRAB – 3 22. POOR COW (Flip side of “Jennifer Juniper” but did not chart seperatly) – 4 CD #2 1. HURDY GURDY MAN (Peaked at #5 on 06/22/68)– 5 2. JENNIFER JUNIPER (Peaked at #26 on 03/09/68) – 5 3. TEEN ANGEL (Flip side of “Hurdy Gurdy Man” but did not chart seperatly) – 3 4. LALENA (Peaked at #33 on 10/05/68) – 5 5. TO SUSAN ON THE WEST COAST WAITING (Flip Side of “Atlantis” that Peaked at #35 on 02/08/69) – 5 6. ATLANTIS (Peaked at #7 on 04/05/69) – 5 7. GOO GOO BARABAJAGAL (LOVE IS HOT) (Peaked at #36 on 08/02/69) – 5 8. HAPPINESS RUNS – 3 9. CELIA OF THE SEALS (Peaked at #84 on 02/21/71) – 4 10. RIKI TIKI TAVI (Peaked at #55 on 08/22/70) – 5 11. CLARA CLAIRVOYANT – 4 12. ROOTS OF OAK (Flip side of “Riki Tiki Tavi” but did not chart seperatly) – 2 13. RIKI TIKI TAVI (previously unreleased version) – 5 14. MARIA MAGENTA – 4 15. COSMIC WHEELS – 3 16. I LIKE YOU (Peaked at #66 on 04/28/73) – 2 17. YELLOW STAR – 3 18. ROCK AND ROLL SOULJER – 3 19. THE QUEST – 2 20. AGE OF TREASON – 3 21. WHAT THE SOUL DESIRES – 2 22. DARK-EYED BLUE JEAN ANGEL – 2 TOTAL POINTS: 165 DIVIDED BY 44 = 3.75 OR 3 ¾ STARS RATING KEY: 5 – GREAT 4 – VERY GOOD 3 – GOOD 2 – FAIR 1 – POOR 0 – THIS SONG DOESN’T BELONG ON THIS CD SOME SONG LYRICS MELLOW YELLOW I'm just mad about Saffron Saffron's mad about me I'm just mad about Saffron She's just mad about me They call me mellow yellow (Quite rightly) They call me mellow yellow (Quite rightly) They call me mellow yellow HURDY GURDY MAN Thrown like a star in my vast sleep I'm opening my eyes to take a peep To find that I was by the sea Gazing with tranquillity 'Twas then when the hurdy gurdy man Came singing songs of love Then when the hurdy gurdy man Came singing songs of love Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy gurdy he sang Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy gurdy he sang Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy gurdy he sang JAG’S FINAL THOUGHTS: Donovan’s music could be found in the Pop, Rock, British Folk and Folk-Rock categories. His sound was reflective, mellow, naïve, cheerful, amiable, good-natured, intimate, happy. Laid-back, ethereal, spiritual, playful, gentile, calm, peaceful, whimsical and innocent. He not only could sing but he played guitar and the harmonica and wrote most of his own material. He was compared a lot in his early years to “Bob Dylan” as the UK’s version of him. My favorite songs by him are “Atlantis”, “Sunshine Superman” and “Mellow Yellow”. Thanks for visiting my Rock ‘N Roll Music History review today and I hope to see you again real soon?  |
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